


Here I'm To Bow Down

by WaitingToBeBroken



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Cat/Human Hybrids, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, Master/Pet, Slavery, Slow Burn, Zabuza is an asshole in this one, but it does get better
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 10:37:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10785126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaitingToBeBroken/pseuds/WaitingToBeBroken
Summary: After all he was special. No, not that he was a neko, a toy, only the rich could afford. He had a secret that made him fear for his life. A secret engraved on his body for everyone to see





	1. Prologue

"Why did you do it?" Haku asked with a tired voice. He could feel the life slipping out of him, he knew it wouldn't take long.. so he wanted to know why this man had chosen him, why he had ended his life, even if not intentionally.

"Did what? Bought you?" Zabuza answered without looking at him, making the neko shudder at the word. Bought... as if he was a toy. Used and then thrown away. But then again wasn't he just that...like his brothers, like his sisters... like his race. No, not all of them. After all he was special and that had nothing to do with the fact that he was half-cat. Well, maybe just a little...

Zabuza, his former owner, sat on the bed he was laying on and turner toward him. The man had such a gentle expression that made Haku wonder if he wasn't even worse than he thought. Hallucinating was never a good sign.

"Maybe because from the moment I saw you I fell in love. When our eyes met I felt something I had never felt before and right then I knew we were meant to be," Zabuza stopped and looked at him, a sneer appearing on his face, completely contrasting with his words and his tone. Seconds later he was laughing, loud, malicious laughter, piercing the neko's dying heart. "That's what you're expected me to say, weren't you? Because you appeared fun. I hoped I wouldn't get tired of you after the first night."

Yeah, Haku had been possession of that cruel man for a few months now. But suddenly Zabuza had dismissed him, claiming that it was no longer "interesting". The past few days the boy couldn't help but wonder whether the man would have kicked him out if he knew the consequences. But every time he asked himself that, the answer came instantly- Probably, he was that cold-hearted after all.

"But it doesn't matter what I feel toward you. You're my property and I decide when and whether you die! Do not forget that. I bought you, so I'm the only one who can kill you"

Haku didn't bother responding. It was all going to end soon, anyway.


	2. You're Gonna Catch A Cold From The Ice Inside Your Soul

"Sir, I think we found out what's wr...what we were searching for!" proclaimed Naruto loudly as he burst into the room. However, the moment his gaze met Haku's his voice got uncharacteristically quiet and careful.

The neko smiled, or was it a grimace? His tail twitched in irritation under the blanket. Why those humans insisted on helping him was beyond him. Hadn't he told them that he couldn't be saved? The only thing they could do was to put him out of his misery, they had to...

"If you want to help me you should kill me," he said weakly. His heart fluttered- he was happy, even if his end was near. No one had ever told him how he was going to end, the only thing he'd known is that it'll be painful. But he liked it, as much as you can like your own death of course, at least he was going to die a free nekomimi. At least now he could say what was on his mind, to control his body.

"Didn't you hear what I told you?" Zabuza growled. He caught Haku's hair in an iron grip and lifted him by it. The neko gasped in pain and even if feebly tried to get his locks out of his former master's hold. Paying no mind to his struggle, Zabuza brought Haku's face closer to his own, so close that their breaths were mingling.

"You'll survive this, if only for me to kill you with my bare hands afterwards," he whispered dangerously. Then he roughly shoved Haku's head in the wall and left, without a second glance.

_Few months ago_

Darkness. Ever since Haku remembered he had been living in it. Cruel, never-ending darkness. He couldn't even recall what day light was like. Every time he tried to remember it, he saw his mother's face- bruised and wet with tears. In his imagination she was telling him that she loved him, that he would never be alone but in reality there was only one word she'd whispered that day- "Run". And then there was blood... everywhere. Red and dark- the only colours that painted his memories.

Haku himself was black, with the exception of his ivory skin. His hair and ears, his tail, his clothes, even his eyes were like two bottomless pits filled with sadness. Yes, he had a tail- fluffy, long, black one. He wasn't a human but a nekomimi or a neko for short. A race of half-cats, half- humans, probably as old as the human kind. But not long ago people had started enslaving nekos and turning them into a plaything for the rich.

It was even worse for Haku, for he wasn't an ordinary nekomimi. And he was the last of his kind, on top of everything. Thankfully no one knew that or he would have been already dead... or worse- in some science lab.

His ear twitched when he heard a pair of footsteps- one of them familiar and the other- not so much. Was it a new employee?... Or a customer? It had been months since he had seen a buyer. After all there weren't many who wanted to have a neko, that had spent half its life in the isolation cell. And that was exactly why Haku kept doing things that sent him here. He was so "naughty" that Naruto liked to say if he hadn't been so pretty he would have already been thrown on the street.

And only at time like this he was glad that he looked good. Because it didn't matter if he was going to spent his whole life in a room, smaller than a prison cell nor that probably he was never going to see the sun again. At least he was safe here. No one was going to find him here- not people who wanted a neko for a toy and especially not...

The footsteps got louder, breaking the silence he was so used to. Bright light burnt his eyes and he groaned softly. A customer... they never wasted electricity if a potential buyer wasn't coming. But there was something unusual. His nose wrinkled as he sensed an aroma he had hoped he would never smell. His first reaction was to close his eyes and to try to awake from what he though and prayed was a nightmare. But this was real and as soon as he realized it his eyes started welling up with tears, which quickly dried on their own- another confirmation. Mind-blowing pain exploded in his left ear and he clutched it.

All of a sudden his muscle stiffened and his body, acting on its own accord, stood up from the bed he was sitting on and froze in the middle of the room.

* * *

"Is that the last one?" Zabuza asked looking disappointedly at the red-headed neko before him. It was cute but something was missing in it. His thoughts drifted to his last toy. Who knew that nekos were so fragile... and he had liked that one. He had even fed him properly- once a day, more than every neko he had had. But he had shoved it too hard in the wall and it had died. Nekomimis were so pathetic.

"Y-yes, sir," answered Naruto quickly, too quickly. The other man turned toward him and eyed him. His gaze was cold and intense and made the blond shudder. He knew his lie had been discovered even before Mr. Momochi said,

"I think you are lying to me."

Naruto averted his eyes and looked around uncomfortably. There was one more neko but long ago they had given up trying to sell him and now they kept him only because Sasuke liked him. Like an older brother, that was, the blond knew that his boyfriend would never cheat on him.

"Well, there is one but I'm not sure you'll like him. He is extremely violent and for this we no longer let him leave the isolation cell," he mumbled. He hoped the man would give up. If not there were two options. Either Haku would attack Mr. Momochi and the man would sue them till they went bankrupt or Haku would be a good neko, which was less likely than Mr. Momochi turning gentle, the man would buy him and then a month later, and that is if the nekomimi was lucky, he would come for another one, because Haku would be dead.

"Let me decide what I want, ne?" Zabuza sneered. The blonde nodded and turned toward the stairs in the corner. He was walking slowly, as if he wanted to buy himself some time to decide on how to get out of the situation, Zabuza mused. So there was such a naughty neko that Naruro was afraid to show it to him. That thought made him smirk.

They climbed down the stairs and Naruto switched on the lights. Zabuza heard a barely audible groan and his smirk widened. The blond headed to the cell in the farthest corner and quickly opened the thick door.

Only after that Zabuza followed him and glanced in the cell. It was a small room with just a bed. On the left there was a door, probably leading to a bathroom. The neko was standing in the middle of the room. It was pretty- all dark except for his skin and that star on his left ear. He couldn't catch its gaze though because it had bent its head. Then it stepped forward and bowed down, just one word leaving its mouth.

"Master"

"So this was the dangerous neko you were afraid to introduce me to?" Zabuza glanced at Naruto before continuing to stare at the pet before him. He had come here searching for something entirely different but this one could work too. Zabuza could at least try...

"I don't know what's happening."

Was Haku sick? Any other day he would have already jumped on the customer and tried to skin him... Just as he was about to try to subtly touch the neko's forehead he heard the words he had been dreading.

"I want to test him," Zabuza had said.

"Test him, sir?" asked Naruto but nodded as soon as he saw the impatient glare thrown in his direction. He took his mobile phone out of his pocket and dialled one of the workers at the shop. Usually he gave his orders directly but he was afraid that this will take too much time. A minute later he shut his phone and turned to Zabuza who was still staring at the statue-like Haku.

"The room is being prepared and someone is coming to get Haku, that neko, ready," he informed the other man and received only a wave telling him to go away, to which he was more than happy to obligate.

He spun on his heel and practically sprinted out of the basement. He had to find Sasuke, only he would know what to do! He found his boyfriend in the kitchen, cooking.

"S-Sasuke..." he gasped and if he wasn't busy catching his breath he would have blushed at how that sounded. "We have a problem!"

The raven glanced at him and shook his head. "For the last time, dobe, Hinata is not hitting on you," he teased, but a small smile showed that he was more amused than angry.

"Yes, she is! Every time I get close to her she starts purring and waving her tail and... We don't have time for this!"

Sasuke's eyes widened at that. His boyfriend missing a chance to complain about Hinata's behaviour? Yes, there was definitely something going on. He checked on the soup one more time and then turned toward him. "Okay, what's going on?"

"Mr. Momochi is going to buy a neko," Naruto explained and the other man rolled his eyes. Mr. Momochi was cruel towards his pets but they couldn't do anything about it. He was a bigwig.

"You know we can't do anything about it, dobe."

"But he choose Haku!" the blond nearly shouted.

Sasuke signed. He liked that neko. But still a customer was a customer. He hugged Naruto and rocked him slightly. His boyfriend rested his head on his chest

"He is going to die, isn't he? We will never see him again," Naruto mumbled. He had grown fond of the little neko. Those sad eyes, they reminded him of his own before he had met Sasuke.

"Nothing is decided yet. He is testing him now, isn't he? Mr. Momochi might not like him. After all, that's Haku's first time, how good can he be?"


End file.
